Iranian Trade, Marketing Delegation Visiting Doha

Heading a trade and marketing delegation, Iran’s Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian is in Doha to co-chair the 8th Iran-Qatar Economic Commission.
Accompanying Mehrabian are President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture Gholamhossein Shafei, and the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, Alireza Peymanpak, IRIB News reported.
Mehrabian is scheduled to hold talks with Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Sultan bin Rashid Al-Khatir.
Shafei will meet Chairman of Qatar’s Chamber of Commerce Khalifa bin Jassim Al-Thani to explore ways of expanding bilateral trade and business ties. 
Accompanying Shafei from Iran’s private sector are businesspeople active in the fields of food and agricultural products, chemicals and petrochemicals, home appliances, technical and engineering services, construction material, medical equipment, transportation, tourism and handicrafts. They are to hold talks with their counterparts from the neighboring country.
The Iranian delegation will also hold talks with Qatar’s private and public sector representatives to discuss ways of increasing cooperation in marine transportation infrastructure, banking and insurance, standards, air transport and investments.
Bilateral trade in the last Iranian year (March 2021-22) stood at $150 million. Iran exported $140 million worth of goods to Qatar, including tomatoes, watermelons, iron and steel products, tar and oil, Portland cement, shrimps and different kinds of floorings, Fars News Agency reported.
Imports of mainly heavy machinery, excavators, airplane spare parts, natural rubber and pulp amounted to $10 million.
  

Cooperation With Qatar World Cup 2022

Iran plans to cooperate with Qatar in preparation for the World Cup 2022.
Bilateral arrangements include launching regular shipping lines between the ports of the two countries and making more use of Qatari commercial airlines along with Iranian airlines during the World Cup. 
“Kish is the focal point of these arrangements, although other coastal and non-coastal provinces in Hormozgan and Bushehr provinces close to the Persian Gulf can also play a role in supporting the event,” Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Rostam Qasemi said in a recent meeting with his Qatari counterpart on the resort island.
Iran's cooperation with Qatar on World Cup 2022 was initiated in February 2021 when Kish Free Zone Organization allocated 520 billion rials ($1.8 million) to equip and develop the infrastructures of Kish Island. 
Kish official are hoping to attract spectators willing to visit nearby tourist locations during the intervals of their favorite matches.
“We have increased the number of five-star hotels on Kish Island from 10 to 15, launched two football fields and two body-building complexes and have upgraded three football pitches,” Saeed Mohammad, secretary of the Supreme Council of Free Trade and Special Economic Zones of Iran, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
To make preparations for the big event, Mohammad added that the ministries of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts; Roads and Urban Development; Sports and Youth Affairs; and Economic Affairs and Finance, in addition to the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran, have joined forces.
Kish Island, with an area of 92 square kilometers and a population of 42,000, is located in Bandar Lengeh County of Hormozgan Province, off the southern coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. It has been declared the fourth tourist destination in Southwest Asia by the UNESCO Cultural Heritage List. 
Kish Island is among the most beautiful coral islands in the Persian Gulf.
The distance between Kish Island and Qatar is 270 km. Kish to Doha flight takes 40 minutes while the sea journey takes 5 to 6 hours. 
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup competition, contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It is scheduled to take place in Qatar from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18, 2022. This will be the first World Cup ever to be held in the Middle East and it will be the second World Cup held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament was held in South Korea and Japan.
President Ebrahim Raisi visited Doha in March to meet Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and attend a summit meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.
Iran and Qatar have been forging stronger economic ties ever since a number of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia abruptly severed diplomatic relations with Doha in June 2017 and imposed a blockade on the Persian Gulf country, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups. The Qatari government denied the allegation as baseless, blasting the blockade as unjustified and a violation of international law. 
Following the development, Iranian exporters have vied for the Qatari market in the absence of Doha's traditional Arab partners.
Qatar shares the world's largest natural gas field with Iran.